The present invention relates to the field of textiles and more particularly to the field of manufacturing of garments from textiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a garment portion processing assembly used to cut and notch a garment portion, such as a shirt collar, with respect to a predetermined standard pattern in order to facilitate the sewing of the garment portion to a garment.
In the garment producing industry efforts have been made to reduce the amount of time consumed in producing garments and the amount of labor required to produce each individual garment. To this end automated sewing devices have been produced which enable the production line to stitch hems and seams of garments in an assembly line like fashion. However, these sewing devices do not provide for the efficient processing of independent garment portions, such as shirt collars, so that the garment portions may be attached to the remaining garment. Such sewing functions are conventionally performed by the personal operator rather than by an automated process, which reduces the efficiency of the production and assembly of the garments.
Accordingly, what is needed is a garment portion processing assembly that will prepare a garment portion, preferably a shirt collar, that is available to readily be sewed onto the garment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated system to cut and notch garment portions such as shirt collars on a production line without requiring an operator to cut and notch the garment portion.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will collect individual garment portions from a stack of garment portions for the individual garment portion to be trimmed and notched.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will collect an individual garment portion and fold that garment portion such that the ends of the garment portion are positioned adjacent each other.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will trim and shape an individual garment portion according to a design desired by the user with minimal help from that user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will trim the width of an individual garment portion according to desired dimensions set by the user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will provide a notch in a garment portion to assist individuals in attaching the garment portion to the garment.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system that will stack the garment portions that have been cut and notched for users to collect to distribute to additional individuals for attachment to garments.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention. The present invention is a garment portion processing assembly that operates to receive uncut material and process the material into a desired shape, such as the shape of a shirt collar. The garment portion processing assembly includes three main components: a stack queuing assembly, a garment portion cutting apparatus, and a garment receiving assembly. In operation, the stack queuing assembly prepares the stacks of garment portions to be collected by the garment portion cutting apparatus to be processed. The garment portion cutting apparatus then collects the garment portions and processes the garment portions as desired by the user. The garment portion cutting apparatus includes a folding assembly for precisely folding the garment portion in an even manner, a shaping knife assembly that is used to trim the garment portion according to the desired pattern, and a width knife assembly that makes sure the garment portion has the proper width. Finally, after the garment portion is trimmed by the garment portion cutting apparatus, it is delivered to the garment receiving assembly to be stacked with the other processed garment portions for collection by the user.